FATE Leveling guide (1-60) [HEAVENSWARD]

This is a guide for the best locations I've found to level in by using the FATEs.

PSA: Don't use this guide anymore!

Keeping it here for archival purposes, reminds me of the good old days. I might look to make an updated guide in the future but for now the low down is;

Go do the hunting log, get to lv15

Go to Quarrymill (South Shroud) and do Palace of the Dead until lv60.

Go to the Onokoro (Ruby Sea) and do Heaven on High until lv70.

For the last 10 levels there's nothing special, just roulettes, dungeons and pixie beast tribe quests.

Above all else though if you're a new player, main scenario quests (MSQ) should be your HIGHEST priority. You can level your first job all the way to max level just doing the main story.

Introduction

This is a guide for the best locations I've found to level in by using the FATEs.
The main thing you'd need to know is "tagging." This basically means getting the first hit on an enemy as it will get you more exp. This is also where the Party finder comes in useful, as it's not just you tagging but multiple people (meaning you can get exp off your part members). If you don't know how to use the party finder, in the chat box select "shout" and type LFG ("looking for group") Fates, people will ususally invite you fairly quickly.

The main point to this strategy is to farm in places slightly higher than your own level, but still managable to kill the mobs there, so using the Party Finder is highly recommended.

A huge thing people miss is the Hunting Log, which is actually one of the most rewarding things out there. Don't avoid it!

Levels 1-10

There shouldn't be any major stuff here, just complete your class quests, do the Hunting log and just kill things. If you have the collectors edition of the game then wear the Helm of Light as it gives you the 20% extra exp until level 10.

Levels 10-20

Location: Western La Noscea - Aleport

The majority will appear fairly close to the Aethernet Crystal, and some out near Swiftperch.

Levels 20-28

Location: South Shroud - Quarrymill

Focus mainly on the FATEs that appear in the Northern area of the zone.

Levels 28-34

Location: Eastern La Noscea - Costa del Sol

The main ones to focus on ill be along the east of the zone, although at the bottom end at the coast a boss FATE will spawn and if you stay the whole way through the reward should be around 20,000+ exp. Watch out for his AoE attack as it can instantly kill a character under level 31.

As a precaution I would recommend setting the Aethernet Crystal as your home point, so when you return you can get back in the action fairly fast.

Levels 34-40

Location: Coerthas Central Highlands - Camp Dragonhead

No specific places in this zone, just stay in the middle of the map until one spawns and run to it.

Levels 40-50

Location: Northern Thanalan - Cerculem Processing Plant

The FATE "Dark Devices" makes this zone slightly better than Mor Dhona, although it's down to how many players are around doing the events. Getting into a Party (for both locations) is highly recommended.

50-60 [HEAVENSWARD Update!]

I saw some people requesting this one and thought it would be useful to put the info on here.

Basically what's happened with HW FATEs is they aren't scaled, so you'll be getting the same EXP farming in any HW location as you will in Eastern Thanalan.

From what I can tell, it doesn't look like this is going to change any time soon

It would seem like the best ways to level classes in HW would be to grind out the highest level dungeon you can do. It seems to be on average every 3 runs you will gain a level.

This of course isn't incredibly fast but Yoshi-P himself said 50-60 will take a fairly long time to achieve.

If anything new shall rise from patches I'll make sure to update this section to the best of my ability, most of my classes are 50 so I can do a lot of first hand tests like I did for the ARR results above.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy punching, casting, shooting and slashing your way to 60!

UPDATE (July 27th)

JessPlaysUK posted a comment saying that the HW stuff has now been scaled properly, and I have tried some FATEs out to confirm it today.

I have also recently found out about a perfect rotation of Boss FATEs, which gives a lot more EXP than other general FATEs dotted around. For instance, I played some with my level 55 MNK and got 150k EXP from Bosses compared to 30-40k EXP from general.

I'll try to get some more info on the full rotation up ASAP.

UPDATE (July 31st)

Finally got round to doing the FATE cycle so I have the names and locations now! This is currently the fastest way to go from 50/51 to 60 I know of, FATEs are extremely superior to dungeon grinding as old "One run=one level" rule is no longer there, it seems to be a real waste of time unless you want gear/minions.

[HW] BOSS FATES

All the fates here are in order, they should spawn one after another (or at least they do on Ragnarok)

[Blue/Red] - The circle in which it spawns

~B~ - Boss - Final FATE, lots of exp and sometimes an item/minion

[C] - Chain - Less exp, but necessary completion for Boss fate to spawn

__________________________________________________________________

COERTHAS WESTERN HIGHLANDS

~B~ We Fought a Dzu

THE SEA OF CLOUDS (Ok'Zundu Crystal)

~B~ On Dangerous Ground

DRAVANIAN HINTERLANDS

[C] Metal Gears Rising

[C] Metal Gears Revengence

~B~ Metal Gears Revengence 2

THE CHURNING MISTS

[BLUE] [C] Darkscale Descendeth

[BLUE] ~B~ Darkscale Devoureth

[RED] ~B~ Verdolfnir Devoteth

[Dethlane]

Daily roulette (leveling, main scenario, alliance, frontline) and spam highest available dungeon EXCEPT 50/60/70/80, as they give much less exp. While waiting for queues, do fates, tribals, etc. If wait is too long (queueing at weekday daytime, etc), use trust or duty support. PotD and like is a colossal waste of time meant only for dedicated groups or masochists.

[Raven]

No need to keep necro-ing this.

[Abuzigahl]

... i get this still recommended ? wow.
If you are playing in 2021 : DONT DO THIS - THIS IS OLD and we have many ways to level = Palace of the Dead, Heaven on high, Roulette, Trust, Eureka all of them are faster and mostly less painfull

[Velimirius]

Ah good old days when FATEs were a thing, i kinda miss them.

[VinchenzoTheJackal & Shoon]

Hmm, I never used Fates as a main way to level, but I do know they give a decent amount of EXP. I tend to get more from Levequests, and discovered I am getting a level every several levequests. Sadly, I am leveling multiple classes, and am reaching the point that Levequests are no longer leveling me quickly on those classes (I passed level 40 on my War and Magic classes). I used to notice Fates were very useful when I was a lower level, but they never kept their appeal when I hit level 35, and I only do Fates more or less for the heck of them coinciding with the area I am passing through at any time. I do reccomend using this Guide, this is a good guide, and I like the thought of people benefitting from it. But there are other alternatives for leveling. This isn't fast leveling, but it is very helpful. I hope other people find some good ways to put this guide, along with other guides, to good use.

[UncleDrake]

But WHY??? It's 2020 my folks, we have had potd for ages now, and there is...NO....FASTER...WAY to lvl up to 60!!!

[Grunt]

I followed this guide and got to lvl 60 within 5 days, thanks xD

[Raven]

That's all fine then. I don't know if the FATE exp. amount was nerfed but yeah, for some reason it's really neglected in the current game state, and with things like HoH, PotD and such, those will net it faster. Daily roulettes and dungeon hopping does as well, or speeding through the story. Although super repetitive, I think even leve-spamming is the better rout. If you unlock squadron missions with your GC, those aren't too bad either if you're specifically looking for non-public dungeon-playing.

My thing is just not trying to shame people for their playstyle or choices. This is not currently a good way to level, (though not a terrible one for GC seals), but if you wanted to, for whatever reason, it's not too invalid as a guide. I used to do this a number of versions ago because I wasn't a fan of tanking, but I found leves much faster and more reliable, though FATEs much more fun. I'm so-so with dungeons. You can get a lot of crappy attitudes in them sometimes.

[Abuzigahl]

Sure ^^ but one of my friends stumbled upon this old guide and thought this is the way as the guide states thats a good way of earning exp. And so i hear weird stuff from a long time ago and have a sweet time to explain : NO thats wrong and no this is one way and by far the worst possible way. I have no problem with you - i have a problem with the phrasing and the statement of the guide. So i like to discuss all things with you but my problem is not you @Jan ;)

[Raven]

On the contrary, this has nothing to do with any personal offense, or whether or not I can take critique, and has everything to do with you needlessly being an ass to OP. I'd agree that this isn't the fastest method, easily. That's beside the point. Maybe you should acknowledge that we know what you're trying to say already, and move on. :)